Overview
Welcome to the 75th Annual New Orleans Academy of Ophthalmology Symposium:
A Legacy of Sight A Future of Clarity
It will be held January 30th - February 1st, 2026 at the Sheraton New Orleans
Richard Allen, MD, PhD, FACS
Professor of Ophthalmology; University of Texas at Austin, Dell Medical School; Houston, TX
Richard C. Allen , M.D., Ph.D., graduated magna cum laude from Duke University with a B.S. in chemistry. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and won the Departmental Award in Chemistry. He graduated from the Medical Scientist Training Program at Baylor College of Medicine with an M.D. and Ph.D. His dissertation, “Molecular Analysis of X-linked Disorders Affecting B Lymphocyte Function,” won the Sigma Xi Thesis Excellence Award. He completed an internship in internal medicine at the University of New Mexico and then attended residency in ophthalmology at the University of Iowa. He completed two fellowships at the University of Iowa; one in molecular ophthalmology and one in ophthalmic plastic and reconstructive surgery.
Allen has worked in multiple different academic and private practice environments in Houston, Iowa, New Mexico, and Stockholm. He was most recently the Carolyn F. Elles professor with tenure in the Department of Ophthalmology at Baylor College of Medicine before coming to Austin.
Allen is active in multiple professional organizations where he has held leadership positions. He is a member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the American College of Surgeons, the American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the European Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, and the Orbital Society. He will be president of American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery in 2023. He is editor-in-chief of the journal Orbit and a reviewer for over 30 journals.
Allen has lectured throughout the world and has over 120 peer-reviewed publications which have been reference over 5000 times. His online oculoplastic surgery video atlas (available at www.oculosurg.com), hosted by the University of Iowa, is recognized worldwide.
Analisa Arosemena, MD
Glaucoma Specialist; Aran Eye Associates; Miami, FL
Analisa Arosemena, MD is board-certified by the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Dr. Arosemena completed two fellowships, one in ophthalmology and the second in glaucoma/anterior segment, at Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans, Louisiana. She completed a transitional internship at Tulane University School of Medicine and a rural internship at Policlinica Santiago Barraza in Chorrera, Republic of Panama. Dr. Arosemena completed her medical degree in 1998 at Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara in Guadalajara, Mexico. Dr. Arosemena has published many publications and manuscripts.
Teresa C. Chen, MD
Associate Professor of Ophthalmology; Harvard Medical School; Boston, MA
Dr. Teresa Chen is an ophthalmologist with specialty training in glaucoma, seeing both adult and pediatric glaucoma patients. A member of the Glaucoma Service, she is one of the international leaders in 3D imaging research of the eye.
Dr. Chen focuses her research on 3D imaging of the eye using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) and swept-source optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging. Along with collaborators at Massachusetts General Hospital, her research group was the first to image the human eye in vivo with video-rate SD-OCT, the most commonly used imaging modality for the care of glaucoma patients worldwide. With SD-OCT, ultra-high resolution 3D video imaging of the optic nerve and the retina is possible. Dr. Chen and her Massachusetts General Hospital collaborators were also the first to image the eye with swept source OCT, which is also used in ophthalmology clinics worldwide. Dr. Chen has been both first and last author on major papers published in the top three ophthalmology journals, Archives of Ophthalmology (now JAMA Ophthalmology), American Journal of Ophthalmology, and Ophthalmology. She has published over 200 peer-reviewed papers, book chapters and reviews, and case reports.
Actively engaged in teaching and mentoring medical students, residents, and fellows, Dr. Chen has been the course director for the Glaucoma Conferences at Mass Eye and Ear for two decades. She is also the 2017 recipient of the Harvard Medical School’s Clifford Barger Excellence in Mentoring Award. She was also the first course director for the biennial Chandler Grant Glaucoma Symposium, which is an international Harvard Ophthalmology glaucoma conference held at Mass Eye and Ear.
Dr. Chen has served as past Vice President, as well as past President, of the Chandler Grant Glaucoma
Society and the Mass Eye and Ear Glaucoma Alumni Society. She also served as Mass Eye and Ear’s first Chief Quality Officer for Ophthalmology from 2008 to 2018. Additionally, she is the editor of Glaucoma Surgery - the top-selling subspecialty book published by Elsevier the year it was published, which has since been translated into several foreign languages.
Wendy W. Lee, MD, MS
Professor of Clinical Ophthalmology and Dermatology; Bascom Palmer Eye Institute; Miami, FL
Dr. Lee earned her medical degree from Tulane University. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara and a Master of Science degree from Georgetown University. She completed her residency and internship at Tulane University, and a fellowship in oculoplastic and reconstructive surgery at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute.
Dr. Lee treats a broad spectrum of oculoplastic disorders, including periocular tumors, infection and inflammation, facial trauma, tearing, and eyelid malpositions. In addition, Dr. Lee provides aesthetic services, including ptosis surgery; blepharoplasty; brow and forehead lifts; botulinum toxin injections, dermal fillers, and photorejuvenation.
Dr. Lee dedicates time to teaching and is co-director of UM Cosmetic Medicine. Her research interests include eyelid reconstruction, aging of the eyelid skin, and aesthetic lasers.
Michael Patterson, DO
Ophthalmologist; Eye Centers of Tennessee; Crossville, TN
Dr. Michael Patterson has written numerous scientific articles, papers and posters for national publications. He has been invited to meetings around the globe to help further education abroad. He received his medical degree from the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed his residency at Palmetto Health / University of South Carolina School of Medicine. He served as the chief resident from 2014-2016. He served six years in the Army National Guard where he earned the rank of Captain and currently is in the United States Army Reserve. He is married and has four children.
Paul F. Palmberg, MD
PhD- Professor of Ophthalmology; Bascom Palmer Eye Institute; Miami, FL
Paul F. Palmberg, MD, PhD, now a Professor of Ophthalmology at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, knew early on that he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps and become an ophthalmologist. At age 19, he decided that he also wanted to be a scientist. “I wanted to find out if being ‘dual-wired’ would let me see connections between science and medicine that scientists or clinicians were unlikely to come up with independently,” he recalls.
In 1978, he introduced Modified MK Media, an improved solution for maintaining corneas for transplantation which was adopted worldwide. In the 1980s, his discoveries of simplified methods for detecting early diabetic retinopathy led to a decade-long trial by the National Institutes of Health which concluded that tightly controlling blood sugar significantly lowered the risk of retinal and kidney damage in diabetic patients. Dr. Palmberg is best known, however, for his role in helping to clarify the relationship between the level of pressure in the eye and how well a glaucoma patient retains peripheral vision.
In 2000, Palmberg was co-recipient of the International Glaucoma Review Award for the most significant glaucoma research of the year for his finding that lowering eye pressure sufficiently could halt glaucoma damage in nearly all patients with advanced damage. Dr. Palmberg has authored or co-authored 84 journal articles and book chapters, lectured in 55 countries, and trained 52 clinical fellows and 103 foreign observer fellows. Palmberg hopes in his last decade of practice to develop teaching modules in both English and foreign languages to explain the new concepts for treating glaucoma.
Mark F. Pyfer, MD, MS, FACS
Ophthalmologist; Wills Eye Hospital, Philadelphia, PA
Mark F. Pyfer, MD is a board certified ophthalmologist and co-owner of Northern Ophthalmic Associates in suburban Philadelphia who serves on the teaching faculty of Wills Eye Hospital. He specializes in state-of-the-art refractive and cataract surgery, performing over 40,000 vision correction procedures since 1997.
Dr. Pyfer received his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, graduating at the top of his class in 1995. After serving an internship in internal medicine, he completed residency training in medical and surgical ophthalmology at Wills Eye Hospital.
While in residence at Wills, Dr. Pyfer coauthored the popular Wills Eye Manual, a reference book that has been translated into multiple languages, and is used by doctors around the world when treating eye disease.
Dr. Pyfer has lectured and published numerous scientific papers and abstracts related to his research on topics such as: quality of vision after cataract and refractive surgery, surgical treatment of glaucoma, ocular blood flow and computer-enhanced image processing. He is past president of the New York IOL Implant Society, the Wills Eye Alumni Society and the Montgomery County Medical Society. He is also a Fellow of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, and a member of the American Medical Association, the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons, and the International Society of Refractive Surgery. Dr Pyfer has been a principal investigator on FDA clinical trials in minimally invasive glaucoma surgery, IOL implants, and treatment of ocular surface disease.
Kelsey A. Roelofs, MD
Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology; UCLA Stein Eye Institute; Calabasas, CA
Dr. Kelsey A. Roelofs is a board certified ophthalmologist and oculofacial plastic surgeon with an interest in cosmetic facial surgery. She received her MD from the University of Alberta, where she subsequently went on to complete her residency in Ophthalmology. Thereafter, she embarked on an Ocular Oncology fellowship at Moorfields Eye Hospital, followed by a two-year American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery fellowship at UCLA under the mentorship of Dr Jonathan Hoenig.
Dr. Roelofs has published over 50 peer-reviewed papers, 19 textbook chapters and was the 2021 recipient of the Bartley R Frueh Research Award. She was recently selected as the 2022 Dr Allen and Charlotte Ginsburg Fellow in Precision Genomic and will be studying the gene expression profile of periocular basal cell carcinomas. Other recent awards include the 2022 Fellow Teaching Award for the Stein Eye Institute of Ophthalmology Residency Program and the 2022 UCLA Department of Ophthalmology Excellence in Research Award.
Dr. Roelofs has been featured in ‘A Guide to Eye Care, According to Top Plastic Surgeons’ by W Magazine and has appeared on the Doctors TV show to discuss the diagnosis and management of filler related complications.
Sonia H. Yoo, MD
Professor of Ophthalmology; Bascom Palmer Eye Institute; Miami, FL
An expert in vision correction surgery, Sonia Yoo, M.D., is recognized as one of the world’s most skilled cornea, cataract, and refractive surgeons, with exceptional experience and knowledge of the field. Interested in the development and evaluation of new diagnostic and surgical technologies, as well as laser applications, she has served as a principal investigator on numerous drug and device trials and testing of new IOLs, and cataract surgery and imaging devices. She served as a lead clinical investigator in efforts to develop intraoperative OCT to assist and guide anterior segment diseases like dry eye, keratoconus, and Fuchs dystrophy, allowing real-time visualization on the anterior segment during surgery; and on the development of femtosecond laser-assisted sutureless anterior lamellar keratoplasties. She has served as the program chair of the Refractive Surgery subspecialty day program of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and received the International Society of Refractive Surgery’s prestigious Founder’s Award for her accomplishments in cataract and refractive surgery. She has been the chief editor for Refractive Surgery Outlook since 2020 published by the International Society of Refractive Surgery of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and she serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Refractive Surgery. She holds several patents and has authored more than 200 book chapters and peer-reviewed journal articles as well as serving as the principal investigator in numerous drug and device trials. Dr. Yoo was named to The Ophthalmologist Power Lists: 2018, 2021.